The Ebb and Flow
by TenThousandMiles
Summary: Caroline'd been dreaming of a certain man ever since Elena told her about her doppleganger's dreams. The dreams about the what-ifs had Stefan and her met as humans. So here's another what-if: what if Elena wasn't the only one having visions of her parallel self? Klaroline two-shots. AU. Don't own TVD.
1. The Ebb

**Takes place around late season5.**

* * *

Ever since Elena told her about her dreams ('pass-outs' would be the word she'd use), about her and Stefan's parallel life, Caroline had been having vague dreams herself. In those hazy visions, she was always accompanied by a man who she never managed to have a glimpse of his face, but the sense of security filled her whenever her dreaming self was in his presence.

She blamed this more on her imagination than on the universal balance Bonnie claimed to be collapsing, unwilling to believe either her or her best friend's dreams were true.

When things were finally settled- all those nonsense, insane, shitty, never-stopping misfortune seemed to come to a pause-Liz asked if Caroline wanted to join a mother-daughter beachside getaway during her miraculous week-off, and, needless to say, the daughter had no problem jumping at the offer.

That was the reason why Caroline Forbes was now lying on the warm beach under a colorful, giant umbrella while her mother took time enjoying a short-term surfing course.

"Care you still there?" Liz lifted the opened book perching on her daughter's face to check for her consciousness.

She blinked to the sudden amount of daylight, brows knotting, "barely. I was almost asleep."

"Sorry to interrupt," the elder covered the younger blonde's face with the book once again playfully, "just to inform you that the tide's rising so the coach's taking me further into the blue. Didn't want you wake up panicking for my absence or anything."

Caroline stretched as she yawned under the pages and eventually gave her mom a lazy hand wave, "that's fine. I'll be able to doze off again in 30 seconds. Too tired. God knows how many of my brain neurons the Augustine had killed."

Liz sighed at her daughter's figure before returning to the water, unsure whether she should worry about the complicated life she was having instead of a normal college girl's one, or simply feel happy for the leisure time she finally got.

On the other hand, Caroline's mind was just too foggy to proceed the complexity her mother was pondering on, the gentle refrain of the waves rolling in and fading away calming her, leading her to the verge of sleep…

* * *

When Caroline woke up, her mother had already helped tidied up all their stuff, leaving her the only unpacked Forbes object on the sand.

"Mom, why didn't you wake me?" Caroline whined as she pulled on her raggy T-shirt hastily.

Drops of salty water fell from Liz's hair as she shrugged, "you were sleeping soundly and seemed like having nice dreams, so I thought I could maybe wait for another few minutes before I part you away from them."

"Mom, have I told you how amazing this hotel is?" Caroline praised as she literally took a twirl to take in the scenery around them on their way back to the buildings.

Yes, buildings.

The hotel, more like a resort it is, created a very exotic surrounding by planting palm and coconut trees wherever you could lie your eyes on. The guests were able to reach a hay-top hut with loads of cocktail and tropical juice every 3 steps. Not to mention the private beach with shiny white, soft sand it was providing its customers.

Liz pulled her girl in with her free hand and gave her a slight squeeze, "oh, thank Jim back in Mystic Falls. He pulled strings to help me book it when he heard I was going on a vacation with you. 'I'll do anything to kick the sheriff out of town, even just for a week', he said. I guess I was pushing my subordinates too hard these days."

The other girl burst in to laughter and took a few steps forward towards the liquor hut along the resort alley between the hotel buildings, "since the sheriff's off duty now, I believe it's okay for her to take a few shots-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a full bucket of colored water fell from nowhere (well, from ABOVE apparently) and drenched her from head to toes in ridiculous shades, the container landing a few steps away from them.

The Forbes looked up in search of the source but all they found was a string of verbal venom, male and female voices fighting, coming out from some room in the building.

Still in shock, Liz quickly grabbed her daughter's wrist, "let's just go get you washed and changed. Don't wanna get more into the middle of a couple's fight."

"Ugh, the universe just keeps on keeping me from even the tiniest portion of peace." Caroline sighed as she agreed, but their action of leaving was interrupted by the voice from above, "I'm so sorry for that, are you okay?"

That unique intonation, trademark smugness in the inquirer's voice was so familiar that it reminded her of someone, someone who should be miles away around NOLA but here, someone who she hadn't see for months but had secretly been meeting in her nightly visions—and when she held her head, her assumption was confirmed, "Klaus?"

"Oh, I'm sorry for being an idiot. You can't be okay in all that… paint water, I am, we are, extremely sorry for that," ever the old-fashioned gentleman, he kept on apologizing, "what I mean was, are you hurt?"

It was beyond weird that he not only seemed unable to recognize her but also failed to capture her whispering his name, which was very unlike him, unlike a thousand-year-old vampire to do.

Not receiving any response from her, he simply came to the conclusion that she was raged, "you know what, why don't you wait there and I'll go down stairs and check on you myself and see how I can make amends. Just stay there, I'll be right down!"

Liz frowned at her daughter, apparently aware of her unnatural reaction to the supposed stranger, "do you know this guy?"

_Okay, so now Mom can't remember Klaus, too._

Watching Klaus disappear from that balcony at human speed- at human speed! This was so not the man who'd volunteered to be her last love would behave when he was concerned about her- Caroline had to admit something, well, the whole situation, was wrong and she had no idea if she could handle this, so all she could do, was drag her mother away and disappear into thin air before this not-so-normal Klaus could get to her. After all, Klaus was already impossible under normal condition, hell knows how he's like when he's abnormal?

* * *

The next day, Caroline once again woke up to the constant singing sounds of the tides, this time on her giant, soft hotel bed, with a note from her mother by the pillow, saying 'went off to surfing course early. Didn't want to wake you up. Booked a fancy Japanese restaurant down the street outside the resort at 12:30 already, make sure to make it there!'

She let out a moan and pressed her face into that puffy pillow once more before jumping out of bed to get herself washed and dressed. She wandered through the limited collection she'd brought in the suitcase and settled with her favorite white lace skater sundress. After adding some final touches of makeup she decided to complete her look with a pair of khaki ankle strap stilettos, matching the _fancy_ restaurant she was heading to.

Caroline had almost forgotten the drama yesterday when she was walking in the street, feeling so carefree for once in ages, until one of her spikey, thin heels got stuck in the manhole plate.

"Ugh, the universe!" She threw her hands high in the air as she growled to the sky, "just wouldn't let me enjoy any, bit, of, leisure!"

She tried tugging her foot with her shoe on, knowing how awkward and clumsy she must be to other pedestrians, but the shoe remained still on the ground and just refused to leave the cover plate like there was a black hole sucking it on the other side.

"God!" Just as she contemplated that the situation she was in was too bad to become worse, thus making a scene of her taking of both shoes and going on all the way pulling the stuck one with her barefoot on the ground wouldn't do her more harm, she spotted that feeling of falling. She hadn't been able to acquaint that feeling since she'd become a vampire with all those advanced abilities and sense of equilibrium, yet now she was tripping backwards, with her heel hilariously rooted in a sewer cover hole.

She closed her eyes, expecting the impact of slamming into the solid brick ground.

But she never felt it. Instead, she felt a warm, big palm on her back supporting, preventing her from falling on the back of her head in public.

"Getting yourself into trouble again so soon?"

She opened her eyes and saw him, holding her back-bent torso close to his with a firm arm around her waist, sunlight shining through his sand blond curls into her upwards sight.

She cleared her throat and quickly stood upright with his aid, "what, so now you suddenly remember me again?"

"It would be quite hard to forget such a gorgeous face, truth be told, especially how you left me wondering where the damped beauty went yesterday." He claimed as he bent down to uproot her heel for her, his hand brushing her calf bringing shivers up her spine.

Caroline rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest once she retrieved her shoe, "listen, I don't know what you're up to or what scheme you're planning on again, but I'm on vacation with my mom so don't even think about dragging me in. Just stop playing games with me and literally Leave. Me. Alone, Klaus."

He seemed astonished at once and when he finally came to sense, the first thing he asked drove her crazy, "not that I don't like the spectacular way you pronounce my name but, how do you know my name when I don't get a chance to acquire yours?"

"Seriously? You're just gonna going on acting like you don't know me? This is ridiculous!" She snarled to the air, hands bracing her head.

It wasn't until a few minutes later did the curious expression on Klaus' face and the silence between them dawned on her, "wait, so you really don't know me?"

He simply shrugged, "would be glad if you'd inform me of your name now."

"Ugh this must be another of that stupid Elena dream again!" Caroline squinted her eyes in frustration and started pinching herself, but nothing was happening, neither the whole supposed illusion nor the dream itself was falling apart, she wasn't waking up.

"We're blocking the way, love." He reminded politely, "mind if we move to the side of the way before we continue this not-very-efficient self-introduction?"

She sighed as she gave up coming to conscious, holding out a hand to this so-not-Klaus Klaus, "okay I know I must seem like a lunatic in the past 10 minutes but I promise you I'm not. Caroline Forbes."

"Beautiful name, nice to meet you then, Caroline." Klaus smiled and looked at her through those exquisite eyelashes, making her heart skipping like back in Mystic Falls, "I'd like to introduce myself to you as well but since you already-"

"Let me guess, Niklaus Mikaelson," she interrupted him, rambling, "born to a family of 5 children, 3 brothers and one sister."

He laughed at her with an interested look on his face, "is this some lame reality show or are you a creepy stalker? How come you know these personal details about me but I barely know you?"

This was the kind of situation that would usually piss him off, a random stranger girl in the streets proving her accurate knowledge of his beloved, protected family, but somehow it didn't bother him at all. In fact, the mixed look of confidence and confusion on the alien blonde beside him actually amused him.

"Born in Britain, takes interest in painting, and now living in New Orleans-"She kept on ranting, lifting her leg to take a step forward before the once stuck heel land the ground and revealed its damage.

"Watch out!" he held her by the arm and once again collected her from collapsing, "That heel's broken. The shoes are wasted, you can't walk on that."

Caroline took the tragedy off her feet and huffed sarcastically, "bare feet on the earth, sooner or later, just the matter of time."

"Where are you going?" Klaus queried as he kept on holding to her creamy arm, not wanting to let her fall again.

She pointed at the far edge of the street, "see that Japanese restaurant there? I actually have a lunch date with my mom at half past twelve and I have no clue how late it is already."

He nodded, "okay. Why don't you wait here when I go back to my room and get you a pair of the heels we got there? And don't ever think about running away again this time. It's not like you can walk all the way down this street in half a pair of those heels without hurting your ankle."

"I appreciate your offer, I really do. But you don't have to do this. You barely know me." She stared at him, surprised how this version of Klaus could be so trusting and willing to help, "plus, I'd rather stay outside of that couple fight this time."

He chuckled, partly at her answer, mostly at how unlike himself he was when near this eccentric girl he'd just met. He never was the type of guy who gives a hand to spontaneous pretty faces on the road. He was quite otherwise, who didn't hesitate a bit to pass by those in need without helping. Aside from his siblings, he rarely cared about the lives and deaths, not even his parents, let alone strangers. Yet now here he was, offering one hand after another to this angelic girl with baked-honey-colored hair and baby-blue eyes. He tried to convince himself that he was just doing so out of guilt, he was just trying to make amends for spilling that bucket of paint water on her accidentally yesterday, but who was he to fool? Niklaus Mikaelson don't do guilt. He was the arrogant, insolent lone wolf who hardly ever laid his eye on those who weren't related to him.

"Says the girl who knows my everything? Come on, we're more than strangers. And I'm more than glad to do this for you." He finally admitted, to both her and himself, "and, the girl who I had a quarrel with yesterday was my sister, not a partner. She threw out my paint bucket when I was painting. Fortunately I believe she could barely notice a missing pair of heels among the ocean of shoes she owns in that resort room."

_Of course it was Rebekah. _Caroline leaned onto the bench of the street, captivating smile gracing her glowing face, "you've run me out of excuses."

"Fabulous." He grinned as he turned on his heels, leaving for his hotel room, "wait right here, don't move a step, I'll be right back."

"I won't. Be quick, and please don't mess up! I don't wanna deal with a shoe-missing Rebekah!" She giggled as she yelled to him from some distance.

He paused half way in the street, turning to face her, wearing that amazed look, "I really need to find out where the camreas are hidden, it's starting to freak me out you know."

"I just happened to know it all! Call me encyclopedia if you want to!" She yelled, lips tugging from ear to ear.

His laughter streamed through the warm air and he suddenly took a halt again, "there's something you were wrong about, Miss Know-it-all. I'm not living in New Orleans. It was where I lived. My siblings and I are moving to a small town in Virginia now."

* * *

Klaus woke up smiling in his bed, a head of blonde curls taking his chest as its pillow. He made sure to be quiet and soft as he pressed a kiss on the top of it, wondering how lucky he was to keep such company in bed thus waking up beside her. His life had been a miserable mess 2 months ago, until he met this girl. This strange girl, first drenched in his paint water, then told things she knew about him at their second sight. He could still remember the way those golden locks flap her rosy cheeks like a halo surrounding an angel in the breeze when they first met. He could recall that scene, so vivid, she was standing there waiting for him by the street, the glistening water behind the bench she was leaning on only making her look even more heavenly.

Just like that, she entered his life, knowing everything about him and suddenly everything went right.

She stirred beside him and let out a lazy moan, her naked breast brushing his bare chest, "hi, you."

"Hi." He kissed her forehead, "sorry for waking you up."

"Don't mind. I should probably get up and do some study. Midterm's next week." She smiled into his lips then pulled away to put her clothes on, ready to jump out of bed and head to the shower.

Klaus griped her ankle and pulled her into his arms before she could leave, "stay for a few more minutes so I can interrogate you."

She giggled under his tickle and he finally asked, for the hundredth time since they started dating, "are you going to tell me how you know all those things about me at the beach or not?"

And that was when, like every other time that question had emerged, the atmosphere froze.

Caroline sighed, frustrated, "why do you have to know? We're happy, I thought that's enough, at least for me it is."

"It is enough for me, too." He cupped her fallen face as he joked, "just want to make sure this too good to be true dream isn't some well-planned gold-digging trap. If it was, you're free to go now, you know there's no way anyone will be able to extract a single Mikaelson pence from me."

Her lips tugged to give him the reassurance needed, gesturing a finger pointing back and forth between the two of them, "hey, you know this, this has nothing to do with your royal, wealthy, proud, conceited family and the whole unimaginable gold mountain under your family name. Whether you got cut and eliminated from the inheritance or not, I'd stand by your side either way."

"And I might be a college student dating a functioning member of the society," she added, "but it doesn't mean you can suggest that I am a girl looking for a sugar daddy."

Her last word made them both burst into laughter, which didn't last long.

"Seriously, tell me." He pulled her on his lap, so she was straddling on him.

Then there was that silence. She looked at him, so close yet distanced. That was the look he captured on her every now and then, as if she was looking at him but actually staring at someone else.

She paused, wondering if he could take it, that she was originally dreaming then somehow got herself stuck in this parallel space-time where they were both human, and shook her head, "trust me, you wouldn't want to know."

"Of course I do." He stroked his palm against her cheek as she pressed hers above it, "I want to know everything about you."

"Do you believe in destiny, Klaus?" She lied down, her stomach prone to his, conducting every tiny vibration her body made when talking to his chest. He never thought such trivial, intimate thing could warm his heart up like this, not until now.

"No. But there were times when I caught myself expressing personal gratitude to it for how lucky I am recently." He replied, looking carefully and closely into her blue orbs, quietly waiting for his answer.

Placing a chaste kiss on his skin linking the edge of his collar bone and his shoulder, she closed her eyes, "then how come we met at that seaside resort instead of meeting each other here, when you were bound to move to Mystic Falls? We could've met here."

He patted her soothingly on her back while picking up that loose strand of curls tickling his chest, "well, either way I'd fall for this beautiful woman lying on me now. For we were destined to meet."

"Oh listen to those honeyed lips," She narrowed her eyes as she held back the flattered blush and smile.

"Well, apparently, those lips can do," he arched one side of those messy, sexy brows as his hands cruised their naughty way south on her back, "a lot more than just sweet talking."

"I'll tell you." She eventually whispered during their _later activities_, "you'll have the answer you wanted when I'm ready."

Understanding fully what she was referring to without further explanation, he simply chuckled, "I guess I'll just have to stick around long enough see that happen then."

* * *

**AN/**

**Okay so that is part 1 of this two-shot-story.**

**I hoped you enjoyed it, at least I did when writing it. The idea came to me when watching season5 recently (yeah I catch up slow). You might notice there isn't much about Klaus' POV, I'd like to say it's because this story was set to be Caroline's dream or story or whatever telling but the truth is I just suck at writing in a man's tone haha.**

**Again I'll have to apologize for any misuse you find in this story for English isn't my first language. Feel free to point them out!**

**If you like this story, please go check out my multi-chapter Klaroline fic, _A__nd Beauty Remains_, and one-shot _Happened to Be Insane_. You might happen to like them! For those who've already read _Beauty_, I know you're all waiting for the couple to find Henrik but I'm afraid this has already milked all my writer's energy out so there might or might not be an update for _Beauty_ this week. Even if there is it'll be late. It depends. I know I promised double update but writer's block is a bitch and I'm still learning how to fxxx it. Sorry!**

**Two weeks until school starts, won't be long til we go back on one update per week routine!**

**Have a nice week. Hope to see you soon!**


	2. The Flow

**Please make sure to read the AN at the end of the page. It means a lot to me. R&amp;R!**

* * *

_"__I take you to be my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, in sorrow as well as in joy, in the good times, and in the bad. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, until death do us part."_

* * *

Yet her promise never did come true.

She had never really surpassed the barrier, the mental obstacle that kept reminding her of her friends, the hard times they stood with their shaking hands linked, the horror Klaus had brought and done to them, and the fact that this Klaus, the Klaus sitting beside her on the plane was the same but different person from the one in her space-time. The one she had not only secretly fell for but also forbid herself to go near to. At times she wondered if it was okay to love this version of Klaus, if it was mere empathy she was feeling for this guy, and if it was right to forget all those guilt she used to hold and hide into this Klaus' arms like they never did existed.

Was it really that easy, for her to discard those unforgivable faults?

Obviously this Klaus had nothing to do with those villainous plotting and destroying, but is it fine, for her to let go of her own morals and tell this man she loved him every night before they fell asleep together, when he was a parallel version of the man she originally, truly loved?

She was loving the same, and the different man at the same time, after all.

"Relax. It's going to be okay." He took her hand from the handle to give it a comforting squeeze, "they will be behaving their best."

Despite all the hesitations she'd been debating to herself, she was now, sitting there beside him, on that aircraft to London, to his family.

She rolled her eyes, "easy for you to say. You're not the one meeting her boyfriend's siblings for the first time, after their absence from his mother's funeral."

"Calm down, love. They all know the reason why we missed the big event." He brought her hand in his to his lips and pressed a kiss on it as he stared directly, deeply, fondly into her eyes, "and I'm sure they're going to like you. How can they not like such a caring, sweet, wide-hearted girl when she's the only one there for their brother at his lowest times?"

She shot him a knowing smile for the truth in his words. The little business Klaus'd been running since he moved to Mystic Falls 4 years ago was facing its biggest trouble and it almost got him bankrupt just a year ago. He resembled the Klaus from her space-time more than ever during that period, always furious, cynical and kept on pushing his closest friends away. When everyone, including friends, business partners and sponsors, decided they were fed up with his shit and left him struggling on his own, shaking their sleeves, she'd stuck with him. She took care of him when he evaded reality by blind-drinking, she helped him out of that vortex of dark emotions, told him she'd seen much worse before, she even worked extra hours to provide them extra cash. When things finally was taking a better turn half a year ago, he got the first call from his family over the years, only to inform him his mother had passed. He never really told her about his parents, and due to some family reasons they'd never heard from his brothers- only random calls from Rebekah a few times a year- but from her knowledge of the originals she knew this Klaus wasn't having any better time with his family. Ever so stubborn, he hadn't even mentioned a word to his family about his financial crisis, not until months ago, not until everything had already been solved.

And during those worst times, she had done everything except leaving.

From deep down in her heart, she knew that there were times when she doubt herself and this relationship, but she knew better. She knew that this was what she would do for her Klaus, the Klaus in reality, if she had a chance.

Taking Caroline's silent drift in her thoughts as another act of anxiety, Klaus tried joking to lighten up the atmosphere, "Aw come on, you've practically met Bekah already."

"As in meeting the bucket of dirty water she threw out of the window? Or meeting the shoe you borrowed-slash-stole from her for me?" She huffed and performed her trademark eye roll, unable to hold back the laughter, knowing he was trying to ease her nerves, "like I didn't know Rebekah is one of the biggest trouble I'm gonna face when meeting your siblings."

* * *

And there came the awkward moment, when the stiff hellos and nice-to-meet-yous and self-introductions were over, when everyone'd had themselves seated at the huge Mikaelson dining table in their London mansion.

Caroline forced out her best Miss MF smile and tried to be the one who broke the abashing silence, "I am terribly sorry for missing your mother's funeral. Klaus and I really tried, but conditions were-"

"Save it." Rebekah cut in, putting no effort in faking a smile, "so how exactly did you guys meet each other?"

Taking in the piercing glares the other blonde was shooting at her, Caroline secretly thanked the original Rebekah for being way bitchier so that handling this Rebekah became a piece of cake. Neither did she cringe nor hesitate, she started telling their story fluently. Klaus' earlier words recalled, it wasn't until that moment, the moment when she rewind and looked through the new life she'd started here, did she realize she had lead a happy and successful 4-year life in this space-time with this Klaus. There was nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. This would've been the life the real Klaus and she wanted, if they had their opportunity.

"Oh that's her version of the story. I say she had a crush on me years before we met and the whole stumbling upon thing was a well-executed plan she made." Klaus joked, looking fondly at his girlfriend with his arm around her shoulder, "she even knew Bekah's name before I told her."

Triggered by her brother's words, Rebekah folded her palms under her jaw and gave Caroline a narrowed-eye sneer, "well that explains everything. Tell us where you met her, Nik. In a bar full of sluts? A gold-digger packed party? A brothel?"

Before Caroline could even defend herself, Klaus had already growled, his fist clenched, "don't you talk to or about Caroline like that again, or I'll-"

"For your own sake, Rebekah, would you please behave yourself and stop shaming the family?" Ever the composed and calm one, Elijah prevented the argue before it could start by interrupting, "you will not forget Caroline was the one that stayed beside Niklaus when none of us did. And for that, let alone the numerous positive effects - the old Niklaus would've ripped your liver out seconds ago- she had done to our impulsive brother, we ought to be forever grateful."

_Oh you have no idea how true you sound. _Caroline thought to herself. She had to swallow the laugh when she found how alike the two Mikaelson families were, despite in two exactly different space-times, "it's no big deal, Elijah. I've heard worse."

Rebekah huffed and fell silent after looking away, obviously annoyed by the fact that not only her favorite but also her second eldest brother was standing on her opposite side.

Elijah simply sighed at his ever little-girl-like, grumpy sister after giving the guest an apologetic nod, "sorry, you were saying?"

"That she knew Bekah's name before Nik even told her, when Nik was one shot away from getting himself blind-drunk, and she was an underwear away from Nik's credit card password." Finally breaking the silence he had been keeping since saying hi, Kol popped up, wearing that wide smug smirk.

While the other two Mikaelson brothers were both giving the youngest their _this-is-not-funny_ glare, Caroline simply giggled.

"I could never surpass you in that field, Kol," she shot back casually, "still the womanizer huh?"

"Can't find the best if I'm crowned the second." Kol cackled as he leaned against the back of his chair with his arms crossed behind his head and lips tugged from ear to ear, "you know Bekah? I think I like her. Nik finally found a girl with some sense of humor."

Caroline turned to her side and smiled against Klaus's approaching lips, putting on fake jealousy, "and how many girls before me exactly?"

"Ugh, seriously, stop eye-mouth-mind fucking each other, you two." Rebekah stuck out her tongue as if she was going to throw up, still not in her best mood.

Again, Elijah was the one to take control of the up-coming chaos, overly keen as always, "how did you know,_ seriously_?"

That moment, Caroline almost panicked. She didn't know how to answer that. Neither did she want to. She hadn't even told Klaus yet. _Seriously,_ how was she going to tell him and his family, whom she had just met, that she was from a parallel world where they were all the most deadly, monstrous creatures ever existed? It's not like Rebekah hadn't been holding hostility against her enough to take her as a lunatic.

Then she felt it, Klaus' hand secretly reached hers under the table, providing the security, the understanding, the 'no need to answer now' assurance she needed desperately.

"The fact that she knew my name and every other thing about me only confirmed and proved that we were meant to meet," he responded instead, silently rubbing the back of her palm, "like I was hers, she was made for me."

And that was when Rebekah decided that was the ultimate amount of disgust she would stand. She rose abruptly and dashed out the dining room with a 'get a room' thrown over her shoulder.

* * *

"Are you feeling alright, love?" Klaus' voice rang from Caroline's back. She could see his reflection approaching in the window, yet she didn't make a sound.

He knelt down and hugged her from behind, voice suddenly sharp, "I heard about the health examination. When were you going to tell me?"

Eyes filled with tears, she struggled to fight that blocking knot in her throat, squeezing out more like noises than voice, "it's not worth telling."

"What, of course it is!" He released her only to turn her face half compulsorily, "we've been together for 6 years now, and you weren't going to tell me that you're dying?"

She struggled out of the tight grasp of his fingers on her chin, and once again looked down at the floor, speechless.

Taking her silence as an offense, Klaus stood up in fury, "Caroline you can't do this to me! I could've still be left in the dark if your mother hadn't told me!"

"And she shouldn't have." She murmured, hoping the pouring rain outside would wash everything away. Her voice, their fight now, this spat, and the mysterious nightmare of sickness.

Her body hadn't been functioning well since the start of the year, and she'd always taken it at a sign of overwork. It wasn't until lately that the situation became too serious did she let her mother force her to the hospital for a check-up- because please, if you'd been a vampire in your previous life, when all you need to heal was a bag of fridge blood, you wouldn't want to go through all those tedious health check program only to exit with a result report instead of a handful of B-positives.

"Caroline! Are you listening to yourself?" Klaus held his head with both his hands, frustrated, "I know this anonymous diseases, this unexpected illness is freaking you out- believe me it's doing the same to me- but you can't be defeated, not like this!"

"I'm not defeated!" she yelled, and she meant it.

The doctor had told her they failed to find any abnormality in her, except that her body was collapsing at an uncontrollable speed without any concrete reason. The moment she heard that diagnosis she knew what was happening to her. Last time she heard about that word 'collapsing', it was referring to the breaking rule between different worlds, parallel universes. Thanks to that crumbling order, she got her chance to borrow, or rather, to steal her wonderful 6 years with this Klaus, to love, to shine, to orbit around him in this illusory galaxy.

Now was simply time to return.

"Then why are you acting like this? Why didn't you tell me?" Klaus shouted back, his rage building.

Avoiding him and his question, she exhaled, "now that you know, you're free to go."

"May I beg your pardon?" Astonished, he took a step back before querying.

"Do you remember what you told your siblings, in London, a few years ago, Nik? 'We were meant to meet', I never imagined you would say such moving words to anyone, let alone become this caring, loving man standing in front of me, Niklaus Mikaelson." She finally raised her head and looked directly into those greyish sapphire eyes, Niklaus Mikaelson's eyes. "And maybe we are meant to meet. But this is maybe when you leave me, and I leave you. Your business is running well again, you have bright future. And I don't know how long this will drag, or how abrupt _it_ will come. We all know who you are and how you act when you lose someone you love, Nik. I know this better than anyone in this fucking world, because I love you and you me. I'm no saint, I'm not doing this for you. I'm asking you to let me be for myself."

"Don't you understand, Nik? I don't want to be the one to pull you through those tragic emotion blackhole for losing love _again_." She walked over, sight never tearing apart, and cupped his face with her pale palms. "Please let me end this before it gets out of control."

Tears streamed along his cheeks. They were so boiling hot that it almost burnt Caroline's fingers, just like how she'd always felt when he showed her his affection, when she felt his love and his flaming heart under that ice-cold façade.

"What do you mean by 'again'?" Klaus detected in spite of the condition they were in, "does this have anything to do with your_ knowing-it-all_?"

"No," she dodged. _What's the use of telling him now, when I hadn't told him for years?_ Of course she was talking about the other Klaus.

His hand reached hers on his face, worry written in his moist eyes, "tell me, love. Does this- this illness have anything to do with-"

"Just drop it, Nik!" She cut him off. "it's over, okay? We're over. In fact we've been over longer than you ever know, _Klaus_. We were never going to work. This isn't reality, this is a fucking parallel illusion! This stupid relationship, this breakup, they don't even exist, what have we been doing kidding ourselves?"

The hands hovering above hers began grasping her shoulders as he closed up their distance with a suffocating, heated kiss, "what are you talking about? Caroline, you're confusing me. You are not giving up, we are fighting this-"

"Just leave me alone!" She burst out.

There was a long pause before his jaw tightened and that familiar flash of hurt glowed in his melancholic ocean of blues. He turned on his heels and stormed out her room, "suite yourself."

Caroline collapsed on the floor. She did it. She still hurt him, despite the effort she'd made not to, he was hurt.

Teardrops blurred and gushed from her eyes. She was summoning every ounce of will to not fall apart, to cry silently, at least before he leave this house, their house.

But the slam on the front door she expected never did happen.

Instead, Klaus rushed back to the room, and before she got the chance to figure out what was going on, he'd swept her over his shoulder and started carrying her to their car.

"What are you doing, let! Me! Down!" Caroline's kicks and beats in the air were in vain, "I told you to leave me alone!"

When he did put her down, he immediately tied her up with the seatbelt and jogged to the driver's seat, "you probably already knew since, no, before we met, but in case you didn't: Nikaus Mikaelson is not someone to be bossed around. Neither is he one taking orders."

"Ugh, seriousl-" she was going to complain before inertia jerked her back against the backrest of her seat as the car bolt out into the streets like a bullet, "where are we going, and why are you driving so fucking fast? Slow down! You're going to kill us!"

Her blame only pushed him to press on the pedal harder and further, "what's the matter, love? You were planning on dying with or without me!"

It was at that moment, in her widened eyes she saw that Klaus she was familiar with. Furious, reckless, impulsive, devastating.

_What have I done to him?_ She asked herself, but the answer was nowhere to be found.

In her silence he gradually speeded down, and when she ran out of tears her eyes were too dry to keep themselves open. Slowly, in the regularly rocking car, she fell asleep in the consuming guilt and decelerating, dying heartbeat.

* * *

When she opened her eyes again it was dark. The rain had stopped. The digital clock on the dashboard read 4:30a.m. The refrain of tides flowed through the shut window. Empty driver's seat.

"Come out if you're awake." Klaus' knock on the glass almost stunned her. Still in fright of what he said at the beginning of the drive, or rather, the race, she obeyed as he said.

Once Caroline landed, a thick quilt wrapped he torso from her back. His hands lingered on her shoulder a bit longer than necessary.

He paused a while before apologizing, "did I scare you? It was the anger, my pride talking."

She shook her head as she took in their surroundings, muddled by the darkness, "it's no big deal, I know you didn't mean it. But I did. I meant what I said at home-"

"Walk with me." Neither did he answer or argue. He simply held out his hand.

And it was irresistible as always.

As they strolled in darkness and speechlessness, the singing of the waves kept ringing a familiar tone to Caroline. She took another look at her side and saw the fence, and at the end of the now dusky street was a half-lit neon sign of a once fancy Japanese restaurant.

"Is this-?" She gasped in realization.

He kept on walking and finally stopped a few steps in front of her, on a manhole plate. "Yes. This is where we met, technically the second time."

Caroline brought her hands to her chin, tears building yet again as he bent and knelt down like he did at this exact spot 6 years ago.

"This is where I met this stunning woman standing in front of me, where I met the most loyal, wide-hearted, faithful friend I've ever seen, the love of my life, who'd gone through thick and thin, good times and bad times with me. I could still remember the way you held your head under the glaring sun that day, Caroline, like you knew our lives would never be the same." He scooped out the navy velvet box he'd taken when he left Caroline's room shortly back when they were at home, and opened it with one knee on the pavement, under all those stars that seemed to shine just for him and her in the dark slateblue sky, "think of the magic we've made, love. We met in joy and health but you stuck with me in sorrow and worse times. How could I not stand by you in sickness? This is easier, way easier than the rough times you've gone through with me."

Caroline's face was already covered with tears by then. "I don't want you to feel like you have to do this just because you think you owe it to me, or because you pity a dying girl."

"Nonsense, Caroline. I'm more than honored to do so. You'll be the one who's doing a favor." He then swallowed, straightened his spine for the meaningful proposal he was about to give, and pulled open the lid of the box, revealing the shinning ring he'd prepared a month ago, "will you marry me, Caroline Forbes, take me as your husband, until death do us part?"

Caroline had been dreaming of this exact moment for a long, long time, even before she'd become a vampire and met Klaus. As a little girl she had pictured thousands of romantic scenes and lines, but none of them were as good as what she was getting. None of them could compare their story, their magic.

So instead of giving that typical 'yes' with tears and hug, she bent and took her shoes off before pulling her _fiancé-to-be_. They ran to the end of the fence like they did 6 years ago, and skipped a few steps in rush down the stairs to the beach, linked hands shaking in extreme joy. They dashed until their toes could feel the tickles of the waves, orange sun ray glistening on the wavy surface of the blue as dawn gradually broke.

Then at the moment the sun had fully emerged from the horizon, she stood on her tip toe to whisper her answer to his previous question.

* * *

"Caroline! Caroline! Sweetie?"

Her eyelashes fluttered at the call of her name. She almost moaned his name before she found out who exactly was the source of the noise that woke her, "Mom?"

"Time to go, honey." Liz stood up from the sandy ground, and started packing their stuff.

"Wha-what? Caroline looked around. She was lying under that colorful, giant umbrella Liz'd rented from the resort. But, but she was lying on the beach, at this very spot, with Klaus! They were admiring the sunrise, kissing and laughing and enjoying their time as an engaged couple after he'd slipped that ring onto her finger!

She took in her mother's dripping hair and surfing suite, "what year, no, what time is it, Mom?"

Liz replied delightedly, totally unaware of that beyond description look on her daughter's face, "about five thirty. The tide had just ebbed. The surfing course was great and the coach asked me to come practice on my own before class tomorrow."

"So it was all just a dream…" Caroline mumbled to herself. To tell the truth, she always knew what she had in the other world was too good to be true.

Compromising with reality, she propped her left hand against the mat so she could stand up and join her mother's return.

Then she saw it, on her left ring finger. The ring.

Surprised, she took it off and examined it, eager to find the slightest evidence of its existence, the truth of her dream.

And there it was, on the inside of the ring was a tiny line of inscription—

_Through Ebb &amp; Flow_

"What?" Liz leaned to her daughter's direction to check out what the delay was for, "where'd you get that ring?"

Caroline just shook her head in silence.

That was the instant she realized everything about her dream.

What she had with the parallel Klaus, it wasn't a stolen relationship. It was an opportunity that the Caroline and Klaus in real world never had.

She'd seen couples fought and broke up, and she knew the lovebirds that had flown apart weren't not good enough for each other. They were either too young, too impulsive, or too madly in love at their time. All they wanted was to convey their love by conquering each other, which was exactly what drawn them apart. They were just not yet ready, not ripe enough for the love they deserved. And when they were,- poor, limited humans- they were simply too old, or had even long passed.

Klaus and her was too much alike and too different, they couldn't sustain each other's love right now.

Good that they were immortal. They had thousands of years to idle, to waste, to grow, to mellow before they continue idling, wasting, growing, mellowing together for the next millennium, and the millenniums after that. They have plenty of time to prepare themselves for each other.

_"__I intend to be your last, however long it takes."_

Again, she smiled at the ring, and the ebbing tides.

"I had the time of my life, good ones and hard ones, with you."

**-THE END-**

* * *

**Hi there! I know it's been a while since part one, but here you go with part 2! I hope you like it, I myself am pretty satisfied with its outcome. Please review for this story is super important to me. It contained my theory, or rather philosophy not only for Klaroline but also for all relationship in this beautiful world.**

**In my opinion, men like Klaus would never get married, not even any kind of proposal. He has too much to carry, and the poor example his parents set for him was definitely not helping with his faith in marriage. So why this ending you might ask. Just like mentioned in the end of the narration, after reading Murakami Haruki's ****_On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning_****, I started to believe that maybe people only miss their soulmates because when they did meet, they weren't ready for each other- they weren't each other's 100% perfect yet- or they simply didn't know they were already perfect for each other at that exact moment. There is an ancient Chinese Buddhist saying that I liked very much, "****_a single brush past encounter this life is awarded for 500 glances from previous lives._****" In Klaroline's case, I think they were just not ready for each other when they parted ways in the show. I agreed with Joseph Morgan in one of his interviews, although maybe he was simply tired of being asked about Klaroline reunion and was hoping to shut we Klaroline shipper fans up once and for all. He said, by then Klaus was far from ready for a serious relationship like he wanted with Caroline, that if they did become a couple the conflicts between them would only eventually drive them apart, and that such nice girl like Caroline shouldn't be treated that way. Yes I know it sounds like an official jargon, but somehow I was convinced by his saying, and, who knows? Julie left us with that 'last love' promise.**

**Just in case you want to re-read this story with the background music I wrote to, I was playing Taylor Swift's ****_Long Live_**** when writing. Taylor's songs aren't always my type, but the lyrics of this song just strikes the chord of my heart. I always think of my best friends, those who were there for me through ebbs and flows, when listening to this song and I am forever grateful. The bond between our beloved Klaroline is by far stronger and more complicated, but I believe the lyrics suite any relationship, friendship or love, that makes magic.**

**PS. I'll try my best to update Beauty next week, but no promises!**

**-With a heart swelling with love, A**


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